Opera singer spreads mental illness awareness

Boston opera singer Wesley Ray Thomas, who has struggled with mental illness, rehearses with Me2/Orchestra at the University of Vermont Recital Hall in advance of their Saturday performance.(Photo: EMILY MCMANAMY/FREE PRESS)Buy Photo

Opera singer Wesley Ray Thomas was rehearsing one night last month in a concert hall occupied by about a half-dozen listeners. It didn't matter that there were more people on stage in the 28-member Me2/Orchestra than in the seats in front of him at the University of Vermont Recital Hall; he was still performing to the back row.

Singing the bird-catcher's aria from Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute," Thomas made eye contact with everyone in the crowd as he sang with his rich baritone. He didn't just sing, though; Thomas mimicked the playing of a flute as a real flute trilled up from the orchestra behind him. Later, when singing "The Impossible Dream" from "Man of La Mancha," Thomas raised his left arm and his voice when he got to the line "to reach the unreachable star" as if he really was reaching physically and vocally for that star.

The orchestra's conductor, Ronald Braunstein, paused to think about what to say to the Boston-based singer after his full-bore performance of the aria from "The Magic Flute." His response turned out to be pretty simple. "Very good, very good," Braunstein told Thomas before adding one more word: "Great."

Thomas and Braunstein have more in common than careers in music. Both have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and both have had their careers derailed at times because of the illness. And both are counting on the Me2/Orchestra, which Braunstein founded in Burlington with his wife, Caroline Whiddon, to give them and others struggling with mental illness a way out of the darkness through music.

"It's close to my heart because I know how mental-health issues can really ruin people if they're not addressed," Thomas said following the rehearsal at UVM. He performs there Saturday with the Me2/Orchestra for its spring concert.

"In our society, the stigma of being seen going to a psychiatrist is ludicrous," Thomas said. He believes the Me2/Orchestra, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing awareness of mental illness, can help shatter that stigma. "It shows that we are professional people who work hard, and just because somebody has a mental-health problem doesn't mean they can't be very productive."

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Boston opera singer Wesley Ray Thomas, who has struggled with mental illness, rehearses with Me2/Orchestra at the University of Vermont Recital Hall in advance of their Saturday performance.(Photo: EMILY MCMANAMY/FREE PRESS)

Thomas grew up in Minnesota and quickly developed a superior singing ability that led him to the East Coast and the Boston Conservatory opera program. He also developed a drinking problem as a teenager that he said was exacerbated by his then-undiagnosed illness.

He suffered hernias in Boston that required surgery and prevented him from singing, which worsened his mental condition. "I would go into some pretty dark places emotionally because I couldn't sing," Thomas said. "I plunged into a series of terrible mishaps." Those mishaps included two rounds of homelessness.

"I was expected to be singing at the Met by the time I was in my late 20s," said Thomas, who's now in his 40s, "and that didn't happen."

He was finally diagnosed with bipolar disorder a decade ago and said he's been getting better through improved medication. That hasn't necessarily helped his career, however; opera companies that had hired him in the past still shy away, he said, because they remember his past mood swings.

"It's been difficult because I had to start over professionally," Thomas said. "It's sad, because I think I have something to offer."

He read in the Boston Globe earlier this year about the Me2/Orchestra and its efforts to call attention to mental-health issues. "Being a fellow mental-health patient, the story of Ronald really jived with my own," Thomas said.

He sent an email to Braunstein and Whiddon with a long description of his background and links to videos of his street performances in Boston that, much like his rehearsal at UVM last month, show Thomas not just singing but fully performing for gathering crowds.

"I called Ronnie over," Whiddon said of her reaction to Thomas' videos. "I said, 'Ronnie – I think you should hear this.'"

Braunstein was struck by Thomas' vocal presence. "You know that he's in the room," Braunstein said. "He has the voice."

"He wasn't just singing on the street," Whiddon added. "He was truly performing."

Braunstein identified with Thomas' story. A conductor with an international reputation, Braunstein was hired to be music director of the Vermont Youth Orchestra in 2010 but left with Whiddon, the VYO's executive director, the following year. The VYO fired Braunstein, he accused the orchestra of discriminating against him because of his mental illness, and the two sides settled a lawsuit out of court in 2011.

Braunstein said it's common for those with bipolar disorder to do well and then crash, and he understands Thomas' frustration at having trouble finding work even though he's healthier. "He had a very glamorous career at times. He was also homeless at times," Braunstein said of Thomas.

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Boston opera singer Wesley Ray Thomas, who has struggled with mental illness, rehearses with Me2/Orchestra at the University of Vermont Recital Hall in advance of their Saturday performance.(Photo: EMILY MCMANAMY/FREE PRESS)

He and Whiddon both wanted to have Thomas sing with the Me2/Orchestra because of his voice and performance abilities. They also felt he'd have a powerful story to tell to members of the orchestra, many of whom have struggled with mental illness as well. When Thomas agreed to go public with his story, Whiddon said that allowed the orchestra to strengthen its mission of calling the public's attention to mental-health issues.

"He's been up and down. He's been way down more than once, and he's found the ability to come back from that," Whiddon said. "It's incredibly powerful for people to see it's possible to be high-functioning (with mental illness)."

Americans often hear of people with mental illness after they commit mass shootings, according to Whiddon. Thomas, she said, represents the lesser-told stories. "We have to celebrate the people who are living well despite the diagnosis," Whiddon said.

Thomas hopes the Me2/Orchestra will be able to achieve its goal of establishing a similar orchestra in his city of Boston this year. He also hopes his performance with the Burlington group this weekend gives concert-goers a better understanding of what it means to have a mental illness.

"It shows that we are professional people who work hard," he said, "and just because somebody has a mental-health problem doesn't mean that they can't be very productive."

Braunstein agrees. The conductor said that during his time in Burlington he has been stabilized by finding the best psychologist of the 20 or so he's seen.

"I'm positive that my best 25 years are coming," Braunstein said before recalibrating his math. "My next 30 or 35 years are my best years."

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at 660-1844 or bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com. Follow Brent on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BrentHallenbeck.